The original storyline and ending of Frozen was very different from the film we know and love! The creative team behind the hit Disney show have opened up about the process of making the film, and revealed that Elsa was originally intended to be the villain of the movie.
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Chatting to Entertainment Weekly, the film's producer Peter Del Vecho said: "We started out with an evil female villain and an innocent female heroine and the ending involved a big epic battle with snow monsters that Elsa had created as her army." He also explained that the original prophecy told of a ruler "with a frozen heart will bring destruction to the kingdom of Arendelle". He continued: "We learn Elsa is a scorned woman; she was stood up by Hans at the altar on her wedding day and froze her own heart so she would never love again. Elsa and the audience assume she’s the villain from the prophecy." The original ending saw Anna convince Elsa to use her powers to save the kingdom after it is revealed that the prophecy is actually about Prince Hans before unfreezing her heart and learning to love again.
Elsa was originally the villain of the story
Peter revealed that the original ending just wasn't right, explaining: "The problem was that we felt like we had seen it before. We had no emotional connection to Elsa — we didn't care about her because she had spent the whole movie being the villain. We weren't drawn in. The characters weren’t relatable." Changing Elsa's character meant an entirely different ending for Anna, and the producer explained how they thought up the touching moment when Elsa's love for her sister saves Anna's life.
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Prince Han was always intended to be the main villain
"One of the things [director] Chris Buck had in most versions of the film was a moment where Anna's heart was frozen and needed to be thawed. Chris said, 'Does it always need to be true love’s kiss that solves that problem? Does it always have to be the man who comes in and rescues the female? Could it be something different?' and that led to a different ending. Now that they’re related, Elsa had her own fear and it was Anna who would save the day instead of Elsa by rescuing her sister — and it would be that selfless act that thawed Elsa’s heart."